\Weird Al\" Yankovic" Parodies
What was he known for?
What was Weird Al Yankovic known for?
Yankovic is well known for creating parodies of contemporary radio hits, typically which make up about half of his studio releases. Unlike other parody artists such as Allan Sherman, Yankovic and his band strive to keep the backing music in his parodies the same as the original, transcribing the original song by ear and re-recording the song for the parody. In some cases, in requesting the original band to allow for his parody, the band will offer to help out with the recreation: Dire Straits members Mark Knopfler and Guy Fletcher perform on "Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies*", Yankovic's parody of Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing", while Imagine Dragons provided Yankovic with advice on how to recreate some of the electronic sounds they used for "Radioactive" in Yankovic's parody "Inactive". Yankovic's career in novelty and comedy music has outlasted many of his "mainstream" parody targets, such as Toni Basil, MC Hammer, and Men Without Hats. Yankovic's continued success (including the top 10 single "White & Nerdy" and album Straight Outta Lynwood in 2006) has enabled him to escape the one-hit wonder stigma often associated with novelty music.  Although many of Yankovic's songs are parodies of contemporary radio hits, it is rare that the song's primary topic lampoons the original artist as a person, or the song itself. Most Yankovic songs consist of the original song's music, with a separate, unrelated set of amusing lyrics. Yankovic's humor normally lies more in creating unexpected incongruity between an artist's image and the topic of the song, contrasting the style of the song with its content (such as the songs "Amish Paradise", "White & Nerdy", and "You're Pitiful"), or in pointing out trends or works which have become pop culture cliches (such as "eBay" and "Don't Download This Song"). Yankovic's parodies are often satirical of popular culture, including television (see The TV Album), movies ("The Saga Begins"), and food (see The Food Album). Yankovic claims he has no intention of writing "serious" music. In his reasoning, "There's enough people that do unfunny music. I'll leave the serious stuff to Paris Hilton and Kevin Federline."  Yankovic considered that his first true satirical song was "Smells Like Nirvana", which references unintelligible lyrics in Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Other satirical songs include "Achy Breaky Song", which refers to the song "Achy Breaky Heart", "(This Song's Just) Six Words Long", which refers to the repetitious lyrics in "Got My Mind Set on You", and "Perform This Way", set to Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" that drew inspiration from Lady Gaga's outlandish but confident attitude.  Yankovic is the sole writer for all his songs and, for "legal and personal reasons", does not accept parody submissions or ideas from fans. There exists, however, one exception to this rule: Madonna was reportedly talking with a friend and happened to wonder aloud when Yankovic was going to turn her "Like a Virgin" into "Like a Surgeon". Madonna's friend was a mutual friend of Yankovic's manager, Jay Levey, and eventually Yankovic himself heard the story from Levey. CANNOTANSWER
Yankovic is well known for creating parodies of contemporary radio hits, typically which make up about half of his studio releases.
Cullen Hightower (1923 – November 27, 2008) was a well-known quotation and quip writer from the United States. He is often associated with the American conservative political movement.

Hightower served in the U.S. army during World War II before beginning a career in sales. He began to publish his writing upon retirement. A collection of his quotations was published as Cullen Hightower's Wit Kit.  One of Hightower's most notable quotations is "People seldom become famous for what they say until after they are famous for what they've done."  Ironically, Hightower became famous for what he said rather than for what he did. A number of other quotes are in his obituary.

References

American humorists
1923 births
2008 deaths
United States Army personnel of World War II Igguthappa is a Hindu deity worshipped in Kodagu, India.

Mythology
Legend has it that in ancient times from what is now Kerala arrived seven celestial children. They were siblings, six brothers (including Igguthappa) and one sister. The first 3 brothers stayed back in Kerala in and around what is known as Kanjirath village, in Taliparamba. The eldest brother was known as Kanyaratappa (Kanyarat was a name for Kanjirath), the second was Thiruchembarappa and the third was Bendru kolappa, known by the names of the villages they settled down in and where temples were built for them. The temples built for the three brothers are now famous in Kannur in Kerala. 
The temple of the first brother is now famous as the Rajarajeshwara Temple in Tali Paramba. 
The Trichambaram Temple of the second brother is now famous as the Krishna temple in Taliparamba. 
The third temple is well known as the Vidyanatha temple of Kanjirangad. 
The remaining three brothers with their sister moved towards Kodagu.

The fourth brother Igguthappa took base at Malma in Kodagu and a temple was built for him at Paadi naad. 
The fifth brother moved to Paloor in Kodagu where a temple was built for him. It became known as the Mahalingeshwara temple. 
Their sister who was called Thangamma settled down in Ponnangala village, near Kakkabe, where a shrine was built for her and so is now known also as Ponnangala Thamme. 
The last brother Pemmayya moved further south and moved into what is now as Waynad in Kerala. Now known as Bainattappa or Wayanattu kulavan .

References

Hindu temples in Kodagu district "What I Go to School For" is the debut single of English pop punk band Busted. It was written by James Bourne, Charlie Simpson, Matt Willis, Steve Robson, and John McLaughlin and produced by Steve Robson. The song was inspired by a teacher that Matt Willis had a crush on at school.

The song was released on 16 September 2002 and reached number three on the UK Singles Chart. A young Jade Ewen (who would later join girl group Sugababes) appears in the music video.

Background
Matt Willis told the Essex Chronicle that the song came about after a night out in TOTs 2000 (now known as Talk nightclub) in James Bourne's hometown of Southend-on-Sea. "We were too young, we got drunk and went to TOTs," Willis said. "Then we walked home and continued drinking on the way – it took us ages. When we got back to James' house, we went to his bedroom and just picked up the guitar and that’s when we started writing What I Go to School For."

In 2003, the real-life inspiration for the song was revealed to be Willis' former teacher Michelle Blair, who made a surprise appearance on The Frank Skinner Show on ITV during an interview with Willis. Blair, who was 28 and had been married for three years at the time of her appearance on The Frank Skinner Show, was Willis' dance teacher at the Sylvia Young Theatre School when Willis was 15. Speaking about the surprise appearance with Willis on the show, Blair said: "It was hilarious – he looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him up. I only found out the song was about me after it came out – it's really flattering." Blair said that at the time she was not aware of her pupil's crush on her, but that she did remember him from the dance classes: "He was quite cheeky and charming and always had something to say in class. He used to tell us he was in a band, but I never dreamed they were going to be this big and I certainly hadn't a clue I was going to feature in one of their songs!"

Commenting on the veracity of these events as portrayed in the song, Blair said: "I think he's used a bit of artistic licence in the song. It was a dance class so we never used any pencils but I suppose he had ample opportunity to look at my bum. There was never any tree outside my bedroom window though – I think I might have noticed a Peeping Tom." Reflecting on his time under the tutelage of Miss Blair, Willis said, "She was kind of nice and there was always something really sexy about her." Being identified as the object of adolescent lust, and the subject of a pop song, hasn't caused any friction with her husband, according to Blair: "My husband thinks its (sic) hilarious and takes the mickey. I don't think he's really worried I'm going to run off with a pop star. I'm proud of them. Looking back it was obvious Matt had what it takes."

On 29 October 2012, Michelle Blair appeared as the correct answer in the "line-up" section of BBC Two panel Never Mind the Buzzcocks.

Musical
What I Go to School For became the title of a musical theatre production produced by Youth Music Theatre UK following the story of Busted from their origins in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, through to their break-up in 2005. The musical was written by Elliot Davis with songs from the Busted albums and new music by James Bourne. It was directed by Steven Dexter and played at the Theatre Royal, Brighton in 2016.

Music video
The video for the song features model Lorna Roberts as Miss McKenzie, the object of the band's desire. Then 14-year-old Jade Ewen, who later joined the Sugababes, appears in the video as a schoolgirl. The filming of the What I Go To School For video was later parodied in the video for the Busted song Nineties.

Track listings

UK CD1 and Australian CD single
 "What I Go to School For" (single version) – 3:30
 "What I Go to School For" (acoustic version) – 3:26
 "What I Go to School For" (alternative version) – 3:31
 "What I Go to School For" (instrumental mix) – 3:28
 "What I Go to School For" (CD-ROM video)

UK CD2
 "What I Go to School For" (single version)
 "Brown Eyed Girl"
 Interactvie interview (CD-ROM video)

UK cassette single
 "What I Go to School For"
 "Dawson's Geek"
 "What I Go to School For" (acoustic version)

US enhanced CD single
 "What I Go to School For" (radio version)
 "What I Go to School For" (album version)
 "What I Go to School For" (CD-ROM video)

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Cover versions
 "What I Go to School For" was parodied by the Amateur Transplants on their 2004 album Fitness to Practice.
 The Jonas Brothers covered the song for their 2006 album It's About Time.

References

2002 debut singles
2002 songs
Busted (band) songs
Island Records singles
Songs about school
Songs written by Charlie Simpson
Songs written by James Bourne
Songs written by Matt Willis
Songs written by Steve Robson
Universal Records singles